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The #BossPainter is back for more Q&A videos! Today’s video is all about Essential Advice Before You Paint A Car.
Here’s the question:
I need advice on repainting my Camaro that has its good original paint. Here are my questions:
- I’ve block sanded it with 400-grit but the scratches seem pretty intense. Should I go over it with finer grit or will the scratches disappear once the surface/’sealer is in?
- I’m using House of Kolor products including their DTS foundation surfacer / sealer which I can mix as high or medium surfacer / sealer. I don’t have the time to prime the entire car and sand it down. Can I just spot prime the bare metal spots, spray the sealer and continue with base coat? I’m spraying Candy Cobalt Blue for base.
- I have two Atom X27 Spray Guns (LVLP and HVLP) and tried both on test panel. Which one works for each step? My test panel ended up having tiger striping and had runs. Although it may be because of the mix ratio. I also sprayed with 72 degrees medium ratio.
- My compressor is in my basement which has the same temperature as my garage at 72 degrees. My line is running underground at 20 feet to the garage with three water filters where I connect my hose. It’s approximately 15-20 degrees outside. Will that cause any problems when I spray since the air controlling the spray gun is colder than the area I’m painting the car in?
Remember that I always recommend to finish sanding with 400-600 grit. However, it may be too fine for single stage since this paint is thicker.
On the other hand, there’s nothing to worry about painting base coat over 400-grit because as you continue sanding, it wears this out and ultimately becomes a 500-600 grit.
Jon Kosmoski, the founder of House of Kolor paints agrees that 400-grit is the recommended grit to paint over since it has enough tooth for your base coat to stick on. It will just blow off if you’re using a finer grit. It’s just too smooth for the paint to stick.
If you’re putting primer filler sealer over it, I recommend finishing it off with a 320-grit. Then, put your 2K filler primer over it. After which, wash it off with 400-grit before your base coat clear coat.
If you want to get a bit technical about it, HVLP Spray Gun is great for base coat and the LVLP Spray Guns are good for clear coat.
However, you can spray both base coat clear coat with an HVLP Spray Gun. It will work and won’t have any issues and I’ve done that for so many years painting a lot of cars.
The recommended size for base coat clear coat is a 1.3 or a 1.4 tip. I use the latter for all of my painting. It depends on your preference.
I’d also recommend the Atom Spray Guns on Zoolaa. These are awesome spray guns that produce great finishes and can be availed at a fraction of the cost of the high-end popular spray guns.
I can’t really tell the cause of those tiger stripes and runs. It may be because your flow is a little too slow and you’re laying on too much paint.
It is great though that you practiced on a test panel. I recommend doing that before painting your entire car.
Also make sure that you spray your base coat at around 27-28 psi and clear coat at 28-29 psi trigger pulled.
I’d recommend keeping your hose line at the same temperature as possible to prevent condensation.
Air filters will help you out a lot and your final air filters are set up at the bottom of your spray gun.
If you’re spraying your project with Candy, you’ll need to prime the entire thing with one color before you spray your base coat.
Thanks for joining me today and I hope you learned a lot from this video entitled, Essential Advice Before You Paint A Car.
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Talk soon! Cheers!
Tony B. Richie
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